I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £3,050 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st March, 1946, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Marine Service (Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1939, and the Foreshore Act, 1933 (No. 12 of 1933)); for certain payments in respect of compensation, including extra wages of seamen and the cost of medical treatment; and for payments in respect of the provision of certain protective equipment for ships.
The additional sum required in respect of this service arises under two sub-heads. As to sub-head F, which is connected with services provided in connection with wreck and salvage, there has been an exceptional increase in the quantity of wreck dealt with during the current financial year which has resulted in an excess in the sub-head. Deputies will note that the Appropriations-in-Aid are increased by a sum exceeding that amount. That increase in respect of Appropriations-in-Aid arises almost entirely from the increase in the quantity of wreck brought ashore, resulting in greater receipts from sales and by way of commission paid on wreck. It is expected that, despite the end of belligerent action, the quantity of wreck which will come ashore will continue to be above the normal for some time. It is not possible to estimate in advance the charges that may arise in that connection.
Sub-head J is concerned with grants for the equipment for protecting ships against magnetic mines. The House will remember that the Government undertook to recoup Irish shipping owners the full cost of equipping their ships with protection against magnetic mines. It was difficult to estimate the expenditure closely but it can be said that £4,000 of the deficit is due to the fact that the amount of the claim in respect of two vessels has been substantially greater than was estimated. A further portion of the deficit is due to the unexpected receipt of a claim in respect of work done in 1942 and the balance to the fact that certain sums which were expected to be payable last year were not so paid and eventually had to be charged against this year's provision. It will still be necessary to make some provision under this sub-head in the Estimate for next year because not all the claims from shipping owners have yet been fully discharged.
